Portable well drilling apparatus



23 1954 H. J. WOOLSLAYER Erm. 2,695,081

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Nov. 23, 1954 H. J. WOOLSLAYR ETAL PORTABLE WELL DRILLING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet y4 United States Patent O PORTABLE WELL DRILLING APPARATUS Homer J. Woolslayer, Cecil Jenkins, and Charles D.

Iddings, Tulsa, Okla., assignors to Lee C. Moore Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 20, 1950, Serial No. 157,018 2 Claims. (Cl. 189-11) This invention relates to rotary well drilling apparatus, and more particularly to a substructure for a mast that is adapted to be swung from a reclining posi tion along the ground to an upright position above the substructure.

In the practice of drilling oil wells, certain equipment commonly is used to enable the drilling crews to close off the casing in the event high pressure gas or liquid zones are encountered. This pressure control equipment is located at the upper end of the casing, and the rotary drill pipe operates through it. For this reason, the rotary table and the derrick floor, which must support the drill pipe from above the pressure control equipment, often are as much as ten or twelve feet above the ground level. When this type of substructure is used with a portable mast that is assembled along the ground from prefabricated sections and then swung up into upright position above the substructure, a problem is presented when the shoes to which the feet of the mast are pivoted are mounted on the high deck of the substructure. The problem arises from the fact that the feet of the mast must first be raised up high enough to connect them to the shoes before the mast can be swung up into operative position.

Itis among the objects of this invention to provide well drilling apparatus in which the feet of a reclining mast are easily raised into position for pivotal connection to shoes on a high substructure, in which the feetelevating members guide the feet into the shoes, and in which the elevating members are used as substructure braces after they have been disconnected from the upright mast.

In accordance with this invention, a pair of shoes are mounted on a substructure base which has a lower level projecting forward below the shoes. Arms are pivoted to this lower level of the base in front of the shoes, and they extend backward and upward to the higher portion of the base supporting the shoes. The upper ends of the arms are connected to the base so that the arms can serve as braces, but the upper ends can be disconnected from the base so that the arms can be swung forward and down to a position in which they project forward from the substructure base. The front ends of the reclining arms are adapted to be pivotally connected to the lower side of a reclining mast that extends forward along the ground in front of the substructure. l1f the substructure end of the mast then is pulled back toward the substructure, the arms will raise the feet of the mast and guide them into the shoes where they can be secured by pivot pins. After the arms have been disconnected from the mast it can be swung up into upright position above the substructure. The arms then are used as braces in the substructure, and a pipe setback support can be mounted on the lower level of the base in front of the mast.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a plan View of the substructure with the guide arms extending forward; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the substructure with engines and drawbacks and gin pole mounted thereon and with a reclining derrick mast connected to the guide arms; Fig. 3 is a side view of the substructure with the mast erected thereon and with the pipe setback support added; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan View of the substructure of Fig. 3, Without the derrick; Fig. 5 is an enlarged end View of the substructure; Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line VI-VI of Fig. 3; and Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic side view of the drilling apparatus with the feet of the mast ready to be swung up to the substructure.

Referring to the drawings, a pair of laterally spaced box-like main frames A and B have a combined width which preferably does not exceed eight feet, so that they can be carried side by side on a truck over a highway. The two main frames are spaced the desired distance apart by means of horizontal cross members 1 disposed between their tops and detachably connected to their inner faces. The cross members and the tops of the frames form a deck on which drawworks 2, and engines 3 for driving the drawworks and rotary table, can be mounted, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The height of this deck above the ground is preferably at about the same level as a truck bed, which is about ve feet, so that the machinery just mentioned can be skidded more or less horizontally off a truck and directly onto the deck.

Mounted transversely on the tops of the two frames a few feet from their front ends (their right-hand ends as viewed in the drawings) is an elevated box-like frame C, formed from upper and lower beams 4 and 5 connected by vertical columns 6 and horizontal crosspieces 7. The elevated frame supports at or near its top a heavy framework 8 designed for supporting the rotary table (not shown) that drives the drill pipe in the well casing below it. The frame C is high enough to support the rotary table at a level that will give adequate room for pressure control equipment below it. When the main frames A and B are about five feet high, the elevated frame C need not extend more than seven feet above them. This will give a truck load height of not over twelve feet when the elevated frame is skidded from the main frames onto a truck, which is adequate for highway clearances. The elevated frame has a width of not more than eight feet so that it will fall within highway load width regulations.

A pair of conventional derrick shoes 10 are mounted on top of the elevated frame near its front and above the main frames. Another pair of bifurcated shoes 11 are mounted on the main frames about midway of their length. These four shoes on the substructure base receive the feet of an oil well derrick. Part of the derrick is formed from an upwardly tapered gin pole D which has its front legs 12 connected to the back part of the shoes 011 the elevated frame, and its rear legs 13 connected to the shoes on the main frames. Due to the extra length of the rear legs, because of the height of front shoes 10, they may be reinforced by inclined braces 14 extending from them down to the rear upper beam 4 of the elevated frame. The rest of the derrick is formed from a mast E which is assembled from prefabricated sections along the ground in front of the sublstructure, with the feet of the mast close to the substructure. The mast is assembled with its front legs 16 next to the ground and preferably resting on a telnporary support 17 (Figs. 2 and 7) close to the substructure, so that the perforated feet 18 of the mast will be located at about the level of the top of main frames A and B. The way these feet are raised up into the shoes on the elevated frame C is a feature of this invention, as will now be described.

A pair of parallel arms 20 are pivotally connected to brackets 21 mounted on the main frames close to their front ends and directly in front of shoes 10 on the elevated frame. The bifurcated front ends of these arms, assuming that they are extending forward away from the substructure base as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, are provided with openings for receiving pivot pins 22, by which they can be connected to brackets 23 depending from the reclining front legs of the mast near its feet. If the end of the mast nearest the substructure now is pulled toward the substructure in any suitable manner, such as by means of a line or sling 24 passing over the top of the gin pole, the arms will swing up to lift the feet 18 and guide them back toward the shoes 10 on the elevated frame C, as shown in broken lines in Figs. 2 and 7. The arms are of such length that as the feet move back over the substructure they will be guided into the shoes so that they can be connected thereto by means of pivot pins 25 (Fig. 3). Normal slight variations in the height of the lmounted in front of consists of a prefabricated rectangular spreader 31 that outer end of the reclining mast relative to the substructure lare not-likely to tilt the feet enough to maken `known manner by means of a line 26'extending from'the drawworks to the crown block of the mast. The upright mast is secured to the gin pole by bolts '27 to complete the drilling derrick, as shown in'Fig. 3.

The upper ends of the guide arms 20 then are bolted to brackets 30 projecting from the front of elevated frame C near its top, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, so that the arms will serve as braces for the substructure and especi'ally for-a pipe setback support which then can be the elevated frame. This support is detachably connected in horizontal position to brackets 32 on the front upper beam 4 of the elevated frame. The spreader also is supported by a truss 33 mounted on the front ends of main frames A and B directly in front of brackets 21, all as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. This pipe setback support has to be removed before the mast can be swung forward and down to the ground for rcmoval and transportation to a new location.

With the substructure disclosed herein it is a simple matter to raise the feet of a reclining mast from a level where the mast can be assembled conveniently to a considerably higher level where the feet can be pinned to the elevated front shoes of the derrick. During raising of the mast feet they are guided by the arms 20 into the front shoes. After connection of the feet to the shoes the arms serve the further purpose of helping to brace the substructure and pipe setback support.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. Well drilling apparatus comprising a base, a pair of shoes mounted thereon near its front end, a gin pole mounted on the base and projecting above it behind the shoes, the base having a front portion extending forward from the shoes at a materially lower level, arms having rear ends pivoted to said front. portion of the base Aand extending forward therefrom, a reclining mast above said arms having feet near the front of the base, said mast extending forward away from the base, means detachably pivoting the front ends of the arms to the lower side of the reclining mast near its feet, a line connecting the top of the gin pole with the reclining mast in front of said arms, and means for pulling on the line to pull the mast bodily toward the gin pole, whereby the arms will swing the mast feet upward and backward, the arms being of such length as to guide the mast feet into engagement with said shoes, and said feet being formed for pivotal connection to the shoes s0 that said line can swing the mast up into upright position after the mast has been disconnected from said arms.

2. A substructure adapted to be connected to a reclining oil well mast in front of it, the substructure comprising a base, a pair of shoes mounted thereonseveral feet above the ground near its front end, the base having a front portion extending forward from said shoes at a materially lower level, inclined bracing arms extending from near the front end of said front portion of the base upward and backward to the higher portion of the base supporting said shoes, means detachably connecting the upper ends of the arms to the base, means hinging the lower ends of the arms to the base to permit the upper ends of the arms to be swung forward and down after the upper ends have been disconnected from the base, said upper ends being formed for pivotal connection to the lower side of a reclining mast in-front of the base after the arms have been swung forward and down, whereby when the mast is moved toward the base the arms will swing upward again and lift the adjoining portion of the mast to raise and guide the base end of the mast toward said shoes.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,300,480 Woolslayeret al Nov. 3, 1942 2,332,479 Woolslayer et al Oct. 19, 11943 2,429,010 Woolslayer et al Oct. 14, 1947 2,459,198 St. John Jan. 18, 1949 2,476,210 Moore July 12, 1949 2,577,642 Woolslayer et al. Dec. 4, 1951 

